Review: Kindred
Gaby Meares
I really, really wanted to like this book. It’s on so many ‘science fiction must read’ lists. But, I must confess, I found this such a didactic book. I know it was the first science fiction novel by a black author (and a woman, no less) ever published (in 1979). I know this because the book is less a speculative time travel novel, and more an exploration of the shocking way in which Africans were treated in America before the Civil War. I felt that I was constantly being lectured about the evils of slavery. Maybe I’m the wrong demographic for this book: Australian, white, middle class, middle-aged woman. I am sure this book would resonate more with an American audience.
It’s 1976: we are introduced to Dana, an Afro-American woman, and her husband Kevin, who is white, as they are moving into their new apartment. Without warning, Dana finds herself transported through time to Maryland in the early nineteenth century. She finds herself saving a little boy from drowning. This little boy, Rufus, turns out to be her ancestor. Once his life is saved, she’s whisked back in time to her husband. And so it goes: each time Rufus finds himself in a near death situation, Dana is transported back to save him.
I had difficulty believing that people of the early 1800s would have so readily embraced a women appearing out of nowhere, and then disappearing like a puff of smoke. I think they would have killed her - which would have made for a very short story! I also found her, and her husband’s reactions and responses to their situation, unbelievable. I found the story repetitive: she comes, she saves, she goes home - over and over again.
Some reviewers claim that, although this was written in 1979, it’s as fresh as if it was written today - I disagree. I think it is a product of it’s time and place - and I feel this can be felt throughout the book. If this had been handled with more subtly, and was less strident, it would have been so much more effecting.